Today was a beautiful spring day and I got to spend it outside building some carriage doors for a garage in East Nashville. The home is mostly finished and we’ve turned our attention to the old garage in the back that has been neglected over the years.
The garage door was ancient and didn’t work so the homeowner removed it and wanted me to building some Carriage-type doors like I did for my Eastside Bungalow Project. The rough opening was right around 8 foot across.
Here’s what we were starting with:
We began by tearing out the rotted door jambs. I ripped some larger lumber we had on hand down to around 5 1/2″ and used it to build some new jambs. One side needed some shims but otherwise the opening was amazingly level and square, which is a necessity when you want the doors to work right.
With the jambs installed we created the doors out of a 2×4 frame and plywood. We hung the doors with large gate hinges that are designed to hold this much weight. I also replaced the trim around the door that had expired long ago.
Once the doors were both hung we had a small celebration (it’s always great when they fit without much trouble!) and worked on adding some trim. I attached a 1×4 trim board to one door that would cover the gap between the doors and hold them together tightly. Then, I ripped the rest of the trim boards in half and used a design that mimicked the 3 over 1 windows that are common throughout East Nashville, and many homes from this time period.
The finished job looked great, but I can’t wait to see it after the homeowner gets the paint on there. The doors will be a dark Starbucks-type orange color with pure white trim. I’ll try to remember to add a picture later.
If you’ve got an old rotted shed that needs repair, give me a call. We’ll make it a carriage house!
-Peter
